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Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (Tim Gunn's Guide to Style) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Tim Gunn, Kate Moloney
Publisher: Abrams Image
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $12.21
You Save: $5.74 (32%)
New (39) Used (27) Collectible (3) from $9.00
Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 7738
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 4.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0810992841
Dewey Decimal Number: 646.34
EAN: 9780810992849
ASIN: 0810992841
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
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Product Description
There seems to be no one more qualified or equipped to ponder or even, dare I say, dictate 'quality, taste, and style' than Tim." -Sarah Jessica Parker, actor/producer
Television has introduced the world to a new fashion authority: Tim Gunn. As Bravo's style mentor and Chair of the Fashion Design Department at Parsons The New School for Design, Tim delivers advice in a frank, witty, and authoritative manner that delights audiences.
Now readers can benefit from Tim's considerable fashion wisdom in Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style. He discusses every aspect of creating and maintaining your personal style: how to dress for various occasions, how to shop (from designer to chain to vintage stores), how to pick a fashion mentor, how to improve your posture, find the perfect fit, and more. He'll challenge every reader-whether a seasoned fashionista or a style neophyte-to "make it work!"
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
 Almost as good as a chat with Tim Gunn April 9, 2007
Anita Ashland (Madison, Wisconsin)
169 out of 172 found this review helpful
You can almost hear Tim Gunn's distinct voice as you read this book. His thoughts translate as well on paper as they do on television.
In the "Who You Are" chapter he sets you at ease with his characteristic warmth as he tells you that you are who you are for a reason and he is here to help you accentuate your positive features and mitigate the negative ones. He recognizes that there is a connection between inner and outer beauty and encourages you to think hard about who you are.
This book doesn't contain lots of details about what to wear or not to wear. He zeroes in on the basics - he provides a top ten list of wardrobe essentials (he convinced me that ballet flats are necessary, for instance) - and doesn't overwhelm the reader. There is a chapter devoted to posture and walking. A chapter devoted to style icons ranging from Katharine Hepburn to Kate Moss to Patti Smith. Instructions for how to dress for various special occasions. There's a chapter about the challenge of finding the right fit. There's much more to style than merely the clothes and his book addresses this very well.
The most helpful section is the one that addresses Creeping Closet Syndrome. He gives specific instructions about editing your closet and every woman should heed them. The New York apartment in which he lived for 15 years had seven linear feet of closet space so he knows how to edit.
He praises stores like H&M and encourages quality over quantity. Every woman would do well to read his chapter on shopping before succumbing to the urge to go on a shopping spree. He says, "The most important part of your expedition should take place before you leave home. The salient question to ask is: 'Why am I shopping today?'"
I finished this book with regret, wishing for more, which is how I imagine I would feel after finishing a conversation with him over lunch. Now, I'm off to buy some ballet flats...
Tim Gunn - The Master of Style and Elegance April 9, 2007
J. Whitford (Falls Church, VA USA)
164 out of 169 found this review helpful
The only reason I watch Project Runway is to see Tim Gunn "make it work". The only blogs I read on the Project Runway web site are those by Tim Gunn. His blogs are so insightful into what transpired on each episode. Tim is an incredibly unassuming, elegant, stylish man. You just want to sit and talk to him about fashion for hours on end.
There are so many books about style on the market - most of them by thirtysomethings who are telling us how to dress hot, keep up with the fashion trends or imitate well known celebrity fashions.
It is a joy to read Tim's book about identifying and capturing your own definitive signature style. I love that he includes "Blind Spots" - things we do to sabotage our fashion wardrobe.
Tim starts by helping you define your style and the pitfalls we often make in choosing and wearing fashions. He takes us shopping, warns us about the "it" bag while we choose accessories and the right outfit.
At the end of the book we are treated to a little fashion dictionary and a list of fashionista movies that are fun to watch.
I highly recommend this book over all the other fashion guides for its classic take on being your authentic fashion self and its timeless advice.
Be sure to watch Tim Gunn's new show on Bravo - which continues his take on style and taste.
 Not especially helpful August 14, 2007
Siepres (Maryland)
77 out of 84 found this review helpful
Amazon recommended Tim Gunn's book to me, and I decided to check it since there were some very positive reviews about its content. Nevertheless, I really did not find it that helpful.
First of all, when I pick up a style book, I do expect there to be some discussion of selecting clothes for your body. Even if the book is helping you to cultivate your personal sense of style, it should be honest about what kinds of clothes are just not going to be flattering on you. Gunn dealt with the body problems in two pages, and one gets the impression that his body "flaws" were more for models, instead of the everyday woman. A woman with a very curvy hourglass figure, for example, would need to dress in head-to-toe dark colors, according to his advice.
Secondly, the chapter on fashion icons had a great deal of potential, but it fell flat. This section would have greatly benefited from pictures. The icon descriptions were woefully underdone, so that I had to read the chapter three times to make any sense of them.
However, on the positive side, Gunn does offer some excellent suggestions for shopping, closet purging, and fit, which are well-worth a glance through. The tone is rather elitist, but in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way.
Overall, I would recommend checking it out from the library, skipping the sections on style mentors, and heading straight for his information on fit, your closet, and shopping. Grade: C-
Tim Gunn, I love you April 15, 2007
Kimberley Wilson (VA USA)
66 out of 67 found this review helpful
One of the best things about Project Runway is Tim Gunn and he's offering witty advice and commentary on style, taste and quality in this delightful book. One of the things I was most surprised about was Gunn's maxim that you should forget about clothes size. Sizes vary depending on where the clothes were made and when. The important thing is to make sure the outfit fits you. He talks about how to buy quality clothes and how to shop. He also discusses appropiateness. A 60 year old looks like a fool when she dresses like her granddaughter and the 13 year old looks all wrong dressed and painted up to look like a matron.
A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style doesn't assume that the reader is rich and points out that looking good isn't about spending a fortune. It's a light hearted, charming guide and is as smooth and sophisticated as it's author. I loved, loved, loved it.
Hurray! It's okay to be over 50 and aspire to style! August 9, 2007
Edie Sousa (Manhattan)
29 out of 32 found this review helpful
At first I found this an odd little book. It felt more like an idea that Bravo had--to help kick off a new Project Runway season and Gunn's new show as well--rather than the author's idea. Quite a variety of topics, and it feels a bit random in spots. But the language is certainly reflective of the author, and it's ultimately a lovable book. I'm a fan of Tim Gunn--love his detached irony and wit--and that he's found his niche while shaking his head at the wonder of it all. Good for him. With a book like this, I feel that if I can take away 3 or 4 good tips, I'm happy. For me, those included the posture one (keeping your shoulders far away from your ears, or something like that--it definitely works) and the repair pile rule (you now have 5 days to get it to the tailor or dry cleaner--or maybe you don't care about it that much). How true.
Gunn was not so well served by his publisher. The layout and illustrations aren't wonderful, and the editing, well, we have "discreet" in place of "discrete," "illicit" in place of "elicit," "suitablity" [sic], and Collier rather than Collyer (anyone editing in New York should be able to spell Collyer brothers). If you're going to include a glossary, be sure you spell the words correctly (e.g. dupioni and passementerie). That's already a lot of errors in such a short book. But my over-50-year-old heart was warmed by all the fondness for women of a certain age. I wish he didn't hate flip-flops so much, but I'll continue to wear them--nothing else shows off a pedicure quite as well. And I'll try not to waddle.
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